SUSAN Teng, a veteran who helped nurture the Singapore outbound and wellness market, died last Friday, but her indomitable spirit lives as peers described how she continued to care for the industry while battling cancer to the end.

“Even when she was at her death bed, she was concerned about the NATAS Travel Fair. I have lost a dear friend in the battle against cancer. She will always be remembered by friends as a champion for the travel and spa industries,” said Patricia Auyeong, CEO, Tourism Management Institute of Singapore.

Teng worked for more than 20 years as managing director of Worldwide Honey Tours and was best remembered as a consultant who forayed into spa and wellness travel when the sector was up-and-coming. As president of Spa & Wellness Association Singapore since April 2012, she introduced the first spa insurance scheme for consumer protection, spa accreditation by Casetrust and sat on the advisory panel of Singapore Polytechnic to launch a diploma course on fitness and wellness.

She was also chairman of the outbound committee of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) for over 11 years from March 2003 to April 2014.

Said Robin Yap, president, Travel Corporation Asia: “Susan fought a courageous battle against her illness. We rallied each other in the past 10 years against cancer and l lost a strong pillar of strength in Susan Teng following her passing. The travel industry also lost a passionate leader who served as chairperson outbound NATAS for over 11 years and stepped down only in 2014. I visited her at Assisi Hospice recently and took comfort that she had fought a good battle and was no longer in pain.”

Auyeong agreed: “Susan was a fighter and she won’t give up without a good fight. She was also known for her determination and strength. Despite her pain and suffering when battling cancer, she continued to devote herself to her work and never complained or showed any sign of weakness. Susan didn’t lose hope when the doctors told her there was nothing much they could do for her. She then went to Taiwan and Hungary to seek alternative treatments.”

Former NATAS CEO, Renton de Alwis, said: “She was a good friend and stood by me with strong belief in a change process we drove in my NATAS days. She kept in touch all these years on Facebook and a true Spa Lady she was. I send my deepest condolences to her family from Sri Lanka.”

TTG Asia would like to extend our deepest condolences to the children and family of the late Susan Teng.

TTG Asia eDaily will be taking a break tomorrow, April 3. Have a Good Friday and Blessed Easter!

TRAVEL companies in Vietnam have been left in limbo after hearing news reports but no official confirmation that thousands of flights could be delayed in the coming months due to runway repairs at key airports.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) will proceed with repairs at key airports from April 10 to June 25, which could see around 80 flights cut and 10,000 passengers unable to fly each day at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City alone, local media reported.

Edouard Georges, president, Phoenix Voyages, said the authorities have neither consulted the trade on the issue nor made an official announcement. “We had to find out from the media,” he said. “It seems that the decision is not firm yet and is still under consideration by the CAAV.”

Andy Carroll, global head of sales and marketing, Exotic Voyages, confirmed the lack of official notification. “Until now, we have only received one confirmation that the airport in Pleiku in the Central Highlands will undergo comprehensive repair. Cat Bi airport (in Hai Phong) will also be upgraded to international standard; hopefully that will facilitate travellers to Halong Bay,” he said.

“We have not received any formal updates that maintenance at other airports will be done this summer. There are obviously concerns and uncertainties going on within the industry right now, but we will try to keep up with the latest news so that unwanted problems for our clients are avoided, or at least minimised.”

Georges said the closures are due to take place during low season, meaning the impact on inbound travel should not be overly significant. However, they will leave operators out of pocket.

He said: “If it happens, we will have to reorganise several trips and as usual it will be at our own cost. It (the overall impact) will depend on how fast the airlines react in reorganising their schedules.”

Update: The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has announced that it said it will not approve a proposal for the maintenance of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, according toThanh Nien News.

CRITERIA surrounding government meetings organised on non-government premises were finally clarified by the Indonesian government, which today issued official guidelines for such events.

The Ministry of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform last November issued a circular that limited government agencies to holding meetings within government-owned spaces in a bid to reduce costs.

Hotels, a main beneficiary of this segment of meetings, saw business drop drastically in the immediate aftermath.

But in a press conference yesterday, Yuddy Chrisnandi, minister of state apparatus and bureaucratic reform, said: “Meetings outside government offices can be done selectively (but) they need to meet certain criteria based on effectiveness and efficiency.

“These meetings must be accounted for, monitored and controlled.”

The minister said meetings held at external venues must produce clear results, through transcripts of the meeting, reports and a list of all attendees, signed by the official in charge.

National and regional government agencies must also come up with further terms, conditions and standard operating procedures to perform such evaluations.

Yuddy expects the new guideline would address the grievances of the hotel industry, and hoteliers that TTG Asia e-Daily spoke have responded positively.

Don Tiganov, e-commerce marketing manager, Lombok Raya Hotel, lauded the move, saying: “We learned earlier that the government would revoke the regulation. As soon as it was in the news, we started to receive inquiries from government agencies for meetings in our hotels.”

Tiganov anticipates new bookings as a direct result.

Vivi Herlambang, director of sales, marketing & business development of Sahid International Hotel Management & Consultant, said: “We unofficially heard about the new directive last month and managed to convince some government agencies to book with our hotels.

“The official announcement has made us more confident of the business coming back, although not as big as it was before.”

She pointed out that besides the more stringent regulations, government offices have cut meeting budgets significantly for this year and all additional budget approvals would require time for parliament to clear.

ASCOTT is now offering an Ascott Lifestyle programme to provide bespoke cultural, gastronomical, local and wellness experiences for guests staying at Ascott, Citadines and Somerset serviced residences worldwide.

The experiences – some complimentary – include customised itineraries to explore the city like a local, cultural tours, workshops on the art of making local handicraft and cooking classes by famed local chefs.

According to an Ascott spokesperson, Somerset Heping Shenyang offers free 30-minute cooking classes conducted by an in-house chef to learn how to cook favourites like kung pao chicken and sweet and sour spare ribs, while Somerset Berlian Jakarta offers batik-making workshops at no charge.

Fitness and wellness enthusiasts can choose from yoga lessons, scenic jogging routes or treatments at top spas in the city. For example, guests can participate join the free yoga sessions at Somerset Greenways Chennai and free spinning classes at Ascott Raffles City Chengdu.

Other highlights include priority reservations at restaurants such as the famous Le Jules Verne located in the Eiffel Tower, and recommended trails for avid photographers.

Featured experiences will be updated regularly in the Ascott Lifestyle website.

THAILAND’S state of martial law, imposed since May 22 last year, was announced overnight to have been lifted across the country.

The move reportedly follows Thailand’s king Bhumibol Adulyadej approval to lift the law that was imposed to topple the former government following months of upheaval and sometimes violent street protests in Bangkok.

But tourism, which comprises almost 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, took a beating as a result, as did its MICE industry. Travel operators and tourism stakeholders have been for months urging the government to lift the ruling.

Reuters reported that Thailand has at the same time enacted a security clause known as Article 44 in its interim constitution giving military the power to continue to make arrests without court warrants as well as detain individuals without charges.

DESTINATION New South Wales has announced partnerships with two leading travel retailers to drive visitation to the Australian state.

A two-year MoU has been signed between the NTO and STA Travel in a bid to promote Sydney and regional NSW to youth travellers in key markets including Singapore, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, the US and UK.

CEO of STA Travel Group, John Constable, said: “This new two-year MoU cements and builds on the work we have been doing together over the past two years. NSW is one of our top global destinations for young travellers who flock to work, travel and experience this corner of the world.”

Meanwhile, Lastminute.com.au’s team of bloggers are currently participating in nine different NSW food and wine experiences in a joint campaign, Wine and Dine, in which they share their unique experiences on the retailer’s website.

Destination NSW’s CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said the partnerships were aligned to two areas of focus for the state. “Youth tourism is a rapidly growing market and one we have targeted for visitor growth in NSW. Last year we achieved a new record, with over a million young people travelling to NSW in the year ending June 2014.

“In the year ending September 2014, international and domestic overnight and day-trip wine tourism visitors to NSW spent A$1.9 million (US$1.4 million), contributing significantly to the state’s visitor economy.

“We’ve got very tight targets and KPIs all focused on achieving the government’s goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure by 2020, so we work with our partners on increasing that incremental business year on year towards that goal,” Chipchase commented.

NEW World Hotels & Resorts has secured a contract from Jakarta-based Mugie Bali Indah to manage New World Grand Bali Resort, scheduled to open in 2017.

The property is New World’s first in Indonesia and adds to the group’s existing properties in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The 10.8ha luxury resort will be part of the Pecatu Indah Resort development located on the southern Bukit Peninsula and 30 minutes’ drive from Ngurah Rai Badung International Airport.

Of the 328 guestrooms, the suites and grand suites will have individual decks and plunge pools. Selected guestrooms, all suites and 85 one to four-bedroom villa residences will be available for purchase. Residents will have access to an exclusive club and pool.

Meeting spaces will include a 1,100m² ballroom and four meeting rooms, while other on-site facilities extend to a wedding chapel, four restaurants and a rooftop lounge.

Apart from an adjacent water park, further recreational options will include a spa, fitness centre, the New Kuta Golf Course in the Pecatu Indah compound, and access to a nearby secluded, cliff-encircled beach.

MACAU’S strained tourism capacity could improve through measures that influence when visitors travel to Macau, where they go and what they do after arrival, recommends a study conducted by the Institute for Tourism Studies’ Tourism Research Centre.

Such measures, the study explained, would help ease the heavy visitor burden on particular days. It also showed that apart from major visitor attractions and restaurants plagued by capacity issues during certain periods of the year, the physical capacity of transportation, particularly taxis and buses, remains overburdened.

Estoril Tours Travel Agency, director of sales, Johnny Choi said the capacity challenge occurs during key festivals or holiday periods only.

“However, though various measures like themed walking tour routes have been launched to divert tourist traffic from key attractions, it’s hard to ask clients to give up prominent sightseeing spots to move to less crowded ones,” he said.

“This is particularly true for first-timers to Macau who prioritise on iconic tourism spots. Unlike destinations like Hong Kong, Macau is too small to realistically provide traffic diversion.”

On a positive note, the study also found Macau’s estimated optimum visitor carrying capacity per day was between 87,573 and 94,956 in 2013, and this improved to between 89,374 and 92,325 last year.